Board hears from Marshal, opponents of chicken ordinance

In last Wednesday's town board meeting, the Weir annexation was approved unanimously, along with the amended zoning map of Mancos. The Weir property is at 250 W. Montezuma and the annexation would zone the property as a single family residential. "I'd just like to get it done," said Ronda Weir. "It's been a long process." The fee of $1,890 for the street impact was waived by the board.

The Mancos Planning and Zoning Commission appointed Gretchen Treadwell to their board, and the Mancos Town Board approved it.

Every year, the town of Mancos sends the Certificate of Compliance back to the Department of Local Affairs that is related to immigration status. In previous years, the board has completed the form, but also sent a protest letter to local, state and federal representatives about the need to do so. The protest letter is quoted as saying, "..we feel it is important to tell you that.we feel it is a sad state of affairs when our state government mandates a law and threatens the town by withholding state funding for valuable infrastructure projects (that have nothing to do with immigration) over a policy that is already in place at the federal level."

The board discussed simplifying the Mancos Community Center rental agreement. Parks and Recreation Coordinator Leslie Hopkins was at the meeting to let the board know that she is willing to reduce the fees to $10 for a Mancos resident or business and a $20 fee for others. Discussion was continued on the use of the kitchen and whether it should be extra. It was postponed until the next meeting.

The town marshal asked for a revision in their vehicle policy to allow them to use their vehicles on personal time. "There have been several occasions where we encountered situations where. if we had been in our police vehicle, we could have helped someone," Bill Knauer, Mancos Marshal said. "I don't have any tools of my trade with me - no radio, nothing. It's also an officer safety issue." He said it would also offer them an opportunity to engage citizens and build partnerships. The board passed an interim measure to allow officers to use their vehicles until a policy gets written and they find out more about it.

The marshal also talked about an alert program called NIXLE. Their office will sign up for it and hopefully have it in place by March 1. "Any resident can sign up for it," Knauer said. "If we have an event and there is a missing child or an evacuation notice, and e-mail is generated and sends out automatic texts to everyone who is signed up."

Knauer also talked about his time at the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) conference the week before. "The benefit was great," he said. He wanted the board to know his position on the bills that are being considered at the state level on background checks for guns. "I support all background checks, no matter where a firearm is purchased," he said. He also endorses a ban on high capacity magazines and feels they should be limited to 10 rounds in a magazine.

In audience business at the beginning of the meeting, Will Stone praised the marshal's office. "We're fortunate to have you guys." He also spoke against the ordinance banning chickens from town and thanked the mayor for getting the survey out so more people could speak up.

Several other citizens got up to speak out against the chicken ordinance, explaining that their chickens were part of their food supply and that chicks were for keeping that supply going.

Bob Becker said that he wanted to thank the board members, the acting administrator and especially Robin Schmittel for their participation in Water 101.